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Remsen man dies in accident with train

August 31, 2010 By

A northwest Iowa man died in a truck-train accident Monday. The Plymouth County Sheriff’s Office reports a dump truck being driven north on a gravel road four-and-a-half miles northeast of Le Mars was struck by an eastbound Canadian National train.

According to the report, the truck did not yield to the train and was struck on the driver’s side. The Sheriff’s office identified the man who died as 37-year-old Richard Patrick Martin of Remsen. The accident happened at a railroad crossing controlled by crossbucks and yield signs about 11:30 Monday morning.

By Joanne Glamm, KLEM, Le Mars

Filed Under: Fires/Accidents/Disasters

FDA inspections detail rodents, flies at Wright County egg plants

August 31, 2010 By

The F.D.A. released inspection reports today that show numerous violations at Wright County egg farms that were the source of millions of eggs that have been linked to the salmonella outbreak and massive egg recall. The inspections were the first conducted under new egg safety rules that went into effect in July — after the salmonella outbreak was first reported.

F.D.A. regional director, David Elder, talked about the reports — which are called 483′s — during a conference call with reporters. He says inspections that the operators of the Quality Egg hen houses in Clarion and Galt in Wright County failed to take steps to prevent salmonella.

[Read more...]

Filed Under: Agriculture, Crime & Courts, Health & Medicine, Politics & Government

King tells opponent he hasn’t “earned” right to debate

August 30, 2010 By

Republican Congressman Steve King says his Democratic opponent hasn’t earned the right to debate him face-to-face. 

Matt Campbell of Manning, the Democratic nominee for Iowa’s fifth district congressionl seat, went to King’s town hall meeting in Sioux City earlier today to confront the congressman.

“I will ask you simply, you’ve never debated an opponent in eight years since you’ve been in office and I’d like to know whether you, this year, will participate in a live, televised debate,” Campbell said. 

King replied: “And my answer to that is that judging from the fashion that you’ve conducted yourself, you have not earned it.” 

The Sioux City Journal posted video of the exchange on its website. 

Campbell says King is “not respecting the election process” by refusing to debate his opponent. King accuses Campbell of staging a “fraternity prank” by coming to the town hall meeting and asking King about a debate.

Filed Under: Politics & Government Tagged With: , ,

Findley raises concerns about DeCoster contribution; Miller returns it

August 30, 2010 By

Attorney General Tom Miller has returned a $10,000 campaign donation from a family at the heart of the massive egg recall ordered earlier this month.

Jack DeCoster had been prosecuted by Miller’s staff and was labeled an “habitual violator” of the state’s environmental laws in 2000.  Then, in 2005, DeCoster’s son, Peter, made the $10,000 campaign donation to Miller.  Brenna Findley — the Republican who’s challenging Miller this year, says something doesn’t seem right.

“Where there’s smoke there’s fire and we need to look into this,” Findley says, “to get to the bottom of it.” 

Findley says the contribution makes it appear that “justice might be for sale” in Miller’s office, part of some sort of “secret deal” for the DeCosters. 

Miller says his office “aggressively” prosecuted the DeCosters in the 1990s, but the father-son duo seemed to “have turned a corner” by 2005, as they’d gone five years without another violation of state pollution laws and were cooperating with state environmental officials.

“Had I known then what we all know now concerning the salmonella outbreak and situation, I would not have accepted that check,” Miller says. 

Miller has returned the check to Peter DeCoster, who runs DeCoster Farms of Iowa.

Filed Under: Agriculture, Business, Politics & Government Tagged With: , ,

Iowa City Police say “party patrols” have helped cut problems

August 30, 2010 By

Iowa City police say their “Party Patrols” sent out into the neighborhoods that’re are close to downtown and the University of Iowa campus Thursday through Saturdays, have been successful in stopping big parties and disorderly conduct. The patrols were started in response to concerns from neighbors that the new ordinance that only allows people 21 an over into bars would drive younger people to neighborhood parties.

Sergeant Denise Brotherton says they started the patrols with the return of the students. She says they send out teams of uniformed officers in close proximity to the downtown were most of the students live and they deal with parties, loud behavior, disruptive behavior, pedestrians.

Brotherton says officers are now in the area as parties are just getting started and can take some action. Brotherton says they can maybe stop a party from getting out of control by warning people they’re getting too loud. Or she says if things have gotten out of hand they can shut the party down. They can also deal with people who are out with open containers of alcohol and stop disorderly conduct before it becomes a problem.

Brotherton says the Under 21 ordinance means they don’t have to focus all their resources on the downtown area, and can use the teams in the nearby neighborhoods. So far it seems to be helping cut disorderly conduct. Brotherton says they had no calls for “fights in progress” over this past weekend. She says there were 31 calls for fights in the same time period last year.

Brotherton says in past years they may’ve been busy dealing with things downtown and would not be able to be right on top of things in other areas. She says there are always parties this time of year and in the past they have had assaults and people getting injured, but now they are not having that.

 ”What we find is officer presence is the biggest deterrent, and because we haven’t had to pull all our resources downtown, we can be out in the neighborhoods and maybe address some of those issues that could’ve been happening that either we were missing or couldn’t respond to, and now we can be more proactive,” Brotherton says.

Information shows that during the last weekend of August of 2009, there were 61 calls for service for loud parties. This past weekend there were 45 calls for loud parties.

Filed Under: Crime & Courts Tagged With: ,

Gas theft in Dallas County leads to chase and crash

August 30, 2010 By

A high speed chase in central Iowa early this morning ended with a stolen vehicle crashing into a pond. Chief Deputy Dave Herrick, with the Dallas County Sheriff’s office, says deputies were called at 3 a.m. to a Kum and Go store off Interstate 80 on a report of a girl driving off without paying for gas. The responding deputy located the car and learned it was reported stolen in Des Moines on August 23rd.

Herrick says a pursuit through the city of Waukee lasted about 20 minutes and hit speeds of more than 100 miles per hour. The chase ended at the north edge of the Des Moines Golf and Country Club in Waukee. “They went through three fences and launched the vehicle into a pond,” Herrick said. No one was hurt in the chase or crash.

The driver of the car, 17-year-old Tori Roach of Des Moines, is facing charges that include first-degree theft, eluding, driving under suspension and assault on a peace officer. A passenger, 18-year-old Sarina Williams of Des Moines, is charged with first-degree theft. Officers from Waukee, Clive and the Iowa State Patrol assisted with the case.

Filed Under: Crime & Courts

Farm Progress show is underway in Boone

August 30, 2010 By

Exhibitors have spread across on an 80-acre tract of land near Boone for this week’s Farm Progress Show. It starts tomorrow, August 31st, and ends on September 2nd. Dena Morgan, the national marketing specialist for the Farm Progress show, says over 500 companies will have displays on the exhibit field.

“As far as attendance, we don’t release figures,” Morgan says. “But, you know, it’s hundreds of thousands of people that come over the three days.” A number of new pieces of ag equipment will be “launched” at the show. “Case and New Holland both have new tractors. Hagie is launching a new sprayer. John Deere has a new Gator,” Morgan says. “So lots and lots of things for farmers to come and check out.” All of the outdoor exhibitor lots are “sold out,” according to the event’s website.

The first-ever Farm Progress Show was held on an Illinois farm on October 2nd, 1953 and was a collaboration between a magazine called “Prairie Farmer” and W-L-S Radio in Chicago. “They wanted to show how farming was progressing, so that’s where it came from, being the ‘Farm Progress Show,’” Morgan says. “And it has just grown and evolved from there.” Over the last five decades the show rotated among different sites in Iowa, Illinois and Indianan but in 2005 the show was held at newly-established permanent site near Decatur, Illinois.

This the first time the show will be held on the site near Boone. “And we rotate between these two locations every other year, with even numbered years being in Boone and odd-numbered years being in Decatur,” Morgan says. Organizers say the event is the nation’s largest outdoor exhibition of farm equipment, seeds, ag technology and livestock handling equipment.

Filed Under: Agriculture, Business
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